Paula D’Santos, project officer for the NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group, says the alarm was raised at Bottle Bend, upstream from Mildura, when the lagoon’s pH fell from a healthy seven to a deadly three after it became cut off from the river’s main flow. Fish died in their thousands, the banks were lined with toxic aluminium and manganese salts and the gnarled red gums on its banks began to die. "It is like a scene from the apocalypse. It’s just incredible," Ms D’Santos says.

-University of Adelaide, CSIRO and Wentworth Group scientist Mike Young sees it as a final warning to revive the Murray before it is too late. "Bottle Bend’s nightmare is the first sign we are now changing the River Murray system irrevocably …

"Irrigators and environmentalists both need to be alarmed. This is the time to radically change the way we manage the River Murray system from top to bottom."

NSW’s Tareena Billabong — where acid-sulphate soils have also been found — recently suffered a fish kill that left nine tonnes of fish rotting in the mud. The acid-sulphate problem — caused by nutrient-rich submerged banks being exposed to air for the first time in decades — is already rivalling salinity, overextraction and blue-green algae as threats to the river.

Senior CSIRO scientist Rob Fitzpatrick, who is leading a team looking at acid-sulphate soils, says the problem has been found in large stretches of the river in South Australia around Renmark, Blanchetown and Murray Bridge, as well as in lakes Albert and Alexandrina, near the mouth.

Dr Fitzpatrick says the conditions exist for acid-sulphate soils to form right along the river, but it is occurring mainly in areas that had been inundated for decades but are now slowly drying out. The sulphuric acid is produced when naturally occurring iron pyrite in the river bank — a by-product of decaying organic matter — reacts with oxygen.

The problem can be prevented by raising the water level to reinundate banks. The acidity can be absorbed and counteracted by the slightly basic river water, but toxic metallic salts created during the process are also washed into the main stream.

Raising the water level in South Australia also creates a catch-22. "You might save the river, but then the lakes, which are a much bigger area, might be affected," Dr Fitzpatrick says.

he International Solar Cities Congress is part of the International Solar Cities Initiative and the 2008 Congress will be the third solar cities congress.  

 

The objectives of the International Solar Cities Initiative are to support UN energy and climate policies by stimulating the interest of cities into becoming benchmark cities that commit to ambitious emission reduction goals; help cities systematically integrate renewable energy and energy efficient technologies and industries into environmental, economic and city planning; and provide scientific support for the validation and design of effective measures and policies for Solar Cities.

 

The 3rd Congress will appeal to all professionals and individuals with an interest in sustainable energy and its role in our urban environment. The International Solar Cities Initiative (ISCI) has been formed to address climate change through effective measurable action at the urban community level. The members of ISCI are cities, institutions and individuals who want to help each other in this task.

 

Business is a major focus of the Congress, and anyone in the business of sustainability, market growth and forecasts will find the information presented throughout the program invaluable, particularly on the Wednesday, which has been designed as a special business day and features Robert F Kennedy Jr.

 

A three day program is planned in association with a mayoral forum, field trips and the opportunity for all delegates to enjoy pre and post Conference tours to some of South Australia’s major attractions.

Kucinich on the Issues

A look at Dennis Kucinich’s environmental platform and record

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has been active and outspoken on a wide range of environmental and sustainability issues during the decade he’s represented Ohio’s 10th district in the U.S. House. His efforts have earned him a 92 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

Read an interview with Dennis Kucinich by Grist and Outside.

Key Points

• Proposes a Works Green Administration (modeled on Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration) that would put millions of Americans to work building and installing clean-energy technologies, retrofitting homes for energy efficiency, etc.
• Calls for extensive government funding to develop renewable-energy technologies, and for withdrawal of government subsidies for nonrenewable energy.
• Calls for a "Global Green Deal" that would push development of renewable energy in the U.S., creating jobs in the process, and partner with developing nations to provide them with affordable, clean energy technologies.
• Calls for a phaseout of all nuclear power plants, and for more stringent regulation of nuclear waste.
• Calls for a phaseout of all coal power and coal mining. Has highlighted the threat of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants.
• Cosponsor of Rep. Henry Waxman’s Safe Climate Act, the toughest climate bill in the House, which calls for reducing carbon emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.
• Calls for a ban on logging, mining, and other resource extraction on U.S. public lands.
• Has been a vegan since 1995.

From Sydney Morning Herald  

GREENHOUSE gas emissions from power generation in NSW last year were about 7 per cent higher than in 1990.

The rise indicates the state is within limits to meet the national Kyoto Protocol commitment of an 8 per cent rise on 1990 levels by 2012, though if NSW builds a coal-fired power station those hopes may be dashed.

The non-profit organisation The Climate Group tracked about 95 million tonnes of greenhouse gas released across the state last year, accounting for about 65 per cent of total emissions. The remaining 35 per cent of global warming gases, resulting from agriculture, waste and industry, are more difficult to measure.

"What it demonstrates is that there is still a long way to go, and emissions are still rising," said The Climate Group’s director, Rupert Posner. "If we are going to get to the stated targets of 60 per cent cuts by 2050, it means reducing demand and not supporting new energy projects unless they have zero emissions."

Victoria’s emissions last year increased 30 per cent on 1990 levels, largely because a new coal-fired power station opened at Loy Yang, and because Victoria relies on dirtier brown coal.

However, people in NSW have been slower to sign up to green power for their household energy. In the third quarter of last year, 181,000 people north of the border had signed up to green power, compared with 252,000 from Victoria.

Electricity generated by burning coal accounted for 60 per cent of the state’s greenhouse pollution measured by The Climate Group. Petroleum emissions accounted for 39.5 per cent, or an average of 0.726 million tonnes a week.

Sydneysiders James Castrission, 25, and Justin Jones, 24, are expected to arrive on the west coast of New Zealand on Sunday after almost 60 days paddling at sea.

But as the exhausted pair near land they might have to battle waves up to five metres high, kayak expedition spokesman Tom Mitchell said.

They have travelled more than 3000 kilometres and are now about 130 kilometres from their landing zone in New Plymouth.

"They are coming over the continental shelf; it’s the most dangerous part of the mission," Mr Mitchell said.

"The depth of the water goes from about 2000 to 200 metres, the swell goes from being a non-issue to one that can potentially create crashing waves that can put them in trouble.

"It can be up to four or five metres high but it’s not a guarantee that we will be getting these waves.

"If it chops up a bit, the boys will find themselves in the middle and it will be extremely hard to escape."

Mr Mitchell said the group had considered different landing zones but discovered they would have to deal with the same problem anywhere along the west coast of New Zealand.

Rationing food and well over timetable

The men have also had to ration their food and are eating only one meal a day.

Unfavourable conditions have forced them to paddle more than 3000 kilometres – well over the 42-day, 2200 kilometre crossing originally planned – and they are expected to reach land at New Plymouth about 11am Sydney time on Sunday.

The pair are still out of sight of land but they had their first contact with the real world last night as planes hired by the media swooped over them.

A coastguard officer, Amelia Crowley, spoke to the pair by marine radio from one plane.

"All’s well, we’re looking forward to a cold beer and meeting the people of New Zealand," Castrission said. "We’re looking forward to landfall. It’s great knowing we’re so close."

Crowley said Castrission sounded excited and full of life as they chatted.

Speaking by satellite phone earlier, the pair said weather conditions on the final stretch were expected to be windy.

"We’ve got around about 150 kilometres to go now, we’ve got itchy feet to get on to land," Castrission told Channel Seven. "Fifty-seven days is quite a long time to be on the Tasman Sea."

They have upper body fatigue and muscle wastage in their legs from weeks of sitting.

"Day by day, it’s the physical fatigue that we’re actually going through and the fact that our minds are not as sharp as they used to be," Jones said.

"Now we’re starting to forget things, numbers, and getting our easts and souths mixed up. This whole trip has been about heart and the mental willpower to keep on going."

– with AAP, Taranaki Daily News

When breaking that total capacity down among technologies, wind leads with 93 GW of total installed capacity; small hydro has 73 GW; biomass has 44 GW; geothermal has 10 GW; and PV has just under 8 GW of total installed capacity. While renewables still only make up around 5.5% of the world’s 4,300 GW of total electrical generation capacity, the REN21 report concludes that the industry "has clearly become mainstream" over the last decade.